


No Promises

by VengeanceAngel



Series: 12 Days of Harringrove [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 12 Days of Harringrove, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Christmas, F/M, Hopper is awesome, Hurt Steve Harrington, Ice Skating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Max and Billy bond, Neil is a jerk, Pre-Slash, Protective Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve is sweet, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 04:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17237414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VengeanceAngel/pseuds/VengeanceAngel
Summary: Takes place directly after Day 1 of the 12 days of Harringrove series: Mistletoe prompt.The morning after the party at the Byers' house, Billy gets some unexpected visitors and an answer to the challenge he issued the night before. Bonding happens and Billy starts to see a small chance of escape from his home life.Day 2 prompt: Skating





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, if you haven't read part 1 of this series, you probably should if you want to understand some of the references in this fic. I originally wanted to make all 12 prompts stand-alones, but then I started writing and couldn't stop staying in the same plot so... this original fluff only idea has turned into angsty with a fluff ending type of story. I am planning to never post part of a story unless the story has been written in its entirety. This particular story is in two parts and I promise Chapter 2 will follow Chapter 1 within a day or two. Please don't worry about commenting in order to get me to post. I love your comments, but I never hold stories hostage. I like writing them and sharing them so I am not about to deprive myself of that joy just to get comments. But again, it does feel good to get them or kudos. Enjoy! :)

Dec. 1

Billy wakes to the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. It’s not timid so it’s not Susan. It’s not pounding so it’s not his father. He sits up, confused. That would leave Max, but when the hell has she ever wanted to talk to him?

He gets up and opens the door, not caring that he’s wearing shorts and nothing else. His eyes widen when he sees Steve Harrington standing there. “Uh… Shit, dude. What the hell?” He grabs a shirt from the floor, tugging it on over his head as he mentally tries to prepare for what he thinks is going to be a fight. “Look, if this is about last night, you should know that-“

“Skating.”

“Wait… what?”

“Skating.”

Billy arches an eyebrow in confusion. “Okay… what about it?”

“Do you do it?”

“At the moment? No….”

“Get dressed in something suitable for the weather. I promised the kids I would take them skating and I’m not watching them on my own.”

“In what universe do you tell me what to do, King Steve?”

“In the universe where you kissed me in front of all of our friends in order to prove a point.”

“You mean _your_ friends.”

“ _Our_ friends. Don’t fight it.”

Billy frowns. “Jesus…. Seriously? I’ll tell everyone that it was a prank.”

Steve shakes his head. “You don’t get it. Just get dressed. I’m going to help Hopper.”

“Hopper? Wait, what?” He follows Steve out only to see Hopper in his living room gesturing for his father and stepmother to sit down while Max stands off to the side. She moves to Steve when she sees them enter. 

Neil glances over at the movement, shooting a glare at Steve before turning back to Hopper. “I assure you that I will pay for any damages my son has done, officer.”

“Chief. I’m the chief of police, _Neil_.”

Neil Hargrove frowns, not used to being spoken to so informally. “Chief, my son is a troublemaker and I assure you that he did not learn that behavior in this house. I take great pride in teaching respect and responsibility.”

Billy can’t hold back his confusion anymore and steps into the room. “What’s going on?”

Neil is up in a heartbeat at his son’s voice and moving toward Billy quickly. “What have you done now?”

Billy flinches, unable to help himself, and that seems to be enough for Hopper, who grabs Neil by his shoulder. “Mr. Hargrove, I said sit down.”

Billy glances up and realizes that both Steve and Max had jumped to stand between him and his father. He relaxes and moves around to stand on the other side of Max. 

Neil glares at Billy and sits on the couch again. “I apologize. Billy is… a difficult child.”

Steve pats Max’s shoulder. “You should go outside with the others. They’re down the block waiting.”

Max looks around at the scene in front of her. “What about you?” 

“I’m going to wait for Billy.”

Max nods and starts to walk out, but then stops and runs over to Steve to whisper in his ear. Billy watches the display and isn’t sure what she says, but is shocked as the usually kind and warm brown eyes turn to steel as Max walks away. Billy follows Steve’s gaze as it lands on Neil. 

Hopper notices the shift in Steve, too, and realizes he is going to have to get the situation under control before Steve does it for him. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove, someone has brought it to my attention that there may be some inappropriate discipline happening in the house.”

“Excuse me?” Neil turns red with fury. 

“And that your wife may be covering it up.”

Susan pales, but doesn’t protest. 

“Now you listen right here!” Neil stands up, face reddening by the second. 

“No, you listen!” Hopper is in the man’s face now and Susan looks scared, but keeps her eyes to the floor. “I’m talking to you man to man, but also chief of police to suspected abusive father. I’m letting you know that allegations have been made and I will be watching very closely to make sure that nothing is going on in this house. If I find evidence that you’re harming Billy or Max in any way, I will return and I will do everything in my power to make sure you don’t have these children in your care any longer, do you understand me?”

Susan reaches up to Neil then, now that there is the threat of losing Max, her slender hand curling around his wrist in a silent plea. 

Neil yanks his arm away from her and glares at Billy before looking back to Hopper. “Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Now, the kids are going skating and I expect they’ll be pretty late. Max will stay at my house with my daughter and Billy can sleep over, also, to keep a good eye on Max. Is that going to be a problem?”

Neil shakes his head. “No. No, it won’t. But… I’d like them both back by dinner tomorrow.”

Hopper nods. “I’ll do my best.” He turns and looks at the boys. “Billy, you can’t go skating in a t-shirt and shorts.”

Billy is still staring at the whole spectacle, not sure if it’s real. “What? Oh…. Skating?”

Steve arches an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, skating. You’re helping me watch the kids. Get your stuff. You won’t be back until dinner tomorrow.” 

“Oh. Yeah, okay.” He heads into his room, still stunned. He grabs some clothes and some toiletries and rummages through his closet until he finds a bag that was long forgotten after his mother died. He walks out to see Steve standing and facing a still sitting Neil. Billy’s not sure what the look is on Steve’s face, but considering the Chief is standing between them, facing Steve and talking low, Billy thinks that Hopper is trying to talk Steve down from something. Steve’s clenched fists are another indicator. 

He realizes that he’s going to have to break this up on his own. “Ready.”

Steve turns, lightning quick, and his rage filled face turns into something softer immediately when he looks at Billy. “Hey, okay. Come on.” He pushes Billy in front of him and escorts him out while Hopper brings up the rear. 

Billy watches as Hopper gets into his vehicle and then turns to Steve. “What just happened?”

Steve shakes his head. “You are clueless a lot, aren’t you?”

Billy is about to tell Steve where he can shove his cryptic conversation when he hears his name being called and is suddenly hit by a red-haired torpedo. “Oh my God, Billy! I’m so sorry!” Max backs off suddenly as if reminded that she doesn’t do hugs with her stepbrother. “I mean… so what happened?” She looks to Steve for an answer. 

“Nothing. At all. Hey, just come on. Let’s relax and go skating, okay?” He takes the duffle bag from Billy. “You have a lot of stuff so… I’ll help you. My car’s at the park so we can load up the trunk and squish everyone in afterward or something. We'll figure it out.” He takes off to join the other kids, leaving the stepsiblings to follow behind. 

“Billy?” 

Billy looks over at her, still not entirely sure what’s happening. “What the fuck just happened back there?”

Max shrugs. “I don’t know. I talked with El and the guys and I guess things got weird after we left last night. I don’t know any more than that, but… but I’m glad it happened.”

Billy frowns. “Why did I even ask you?” He walks quickly to get away from her. 

Max rushes to catch up. “Billy, stop being a dick for a minute and listen.”

Billy stops and turns. “What did you say to me?”

“Billy, please… Just stop for a minute and listen. Please?”

“Not now, Max. Just… later, okay?” He walks on ahead and catches up with the others. 

Max frowns, but decides to respect his need for space right now. She lags behind, but stays close enough that she can hear the others laughing and joking up ahead. She’s grateful when El joins her and walks next to her in silence. 

Billy doesn’t talk until they get to the rink in the park. He looks around, stunned. He heard that the local park had winter weather sports, but didn’t realize just how elaborate it was. The rink is decorated to look like Christmas threw up in a slightly elegant way. There are carts along the edges with hot chocolate, soft pretzels, and something that smells deliciously peppermint. 

“Wow…”

Steve turns and smiles at him. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool, right?” 

The kids are already running over and either renting skates or putting skates on that they brought. Max is over in line to rent and Steve sits and starts to take off his shoes. He glances at Billy. “You getting skates? The guy knows to charge it to my account so no worries about money today. It’s my treat.”

Billy sits down and opens his bag, stopping himself from making a snarky comment about not needing the rich kid’s money. “I have my own.”

Steve glances over and lets out a low whistle. “Wow, you sure do. Those are pretty awesome.”

Billy smiles softly as his fingers brush over the side of the blades. “My mom got them for me. I don’t even know if they’ll still fit.”

“You don’t talk much about your mom.”

Billy thinks about that for a bit and wonders if he can talk about her at all. Her death, along with his father’s reaction to it, seemed to place a wall around his emotions that he never bothered to take down or even consider breaking through. 

Steve notices the hesitation immediately. “Hey, you don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to. I don’t mean to pry. I mean, we barely know each other, right?”

Billy shrugs. “Yeah, true. But I did give you the best kiss of your life yesterday.”

Steve laughs suddenly at the confident tone. “Wow, not cocky at all, are you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know…”

A female voice interrupts their conversation as Max appears as if out of nowhere. “Ew. Like… ew. Are you two… flirting?”

Billy frowns and looks up at her, but doesn’t find any judgment or disgust on her face, like he would find on his father’s face. Instead he finds what he can only describe as amusement. He honestly has no idea how to handle the teasing about a subject he feels he’s been tortured for, for half his life. Steve, thankfully, handles it. 

“Max, if I have to put up with you and Lucas making lovey dovey eyes at each other all the time, you can handle an afternoon of me appreciating how hot your brother is.”

Billy looks up in surprise. Steve thinks he’s hot? Sure, Billy thinks that Billy is hot, but he never thought for a second that Steve would think that about him. He files that away for later, but he also remembers that Steve is probably just trying to prove a point to Max and is using Billy to do it. He turns his attention to his skates, grateful as hell that his mother had bought them big and that allows them to fit now. He remembers how his mother had laughed as she put more and more pairs of socks on him just so he could wear the things, with promises that he would grow into them. He fights back the nostalgia as he silently tells his mother that she was right and he finally fits into them perfectly. 

Max rolls her eyes. “I do not make… lovey dovey eyes.” She sighs. “Fine, but if you two kiss like you did last night, do it where I don’t have to watch because…. Ew.”

Steve laughs and claps Billy lightly on the shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. “C’mon, man. Lace those bad boys up and let’s get out there. Just no pointing and laughing at me.”

“No promises.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy has to deal with a clumsy Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait and post this chapter later and then I figured... I'm already awake so I might as well do it now. Enjoy!

Billy soon learns why Steve had given him warning. Steve can’t skate worth shit. Billy watches him try and try, but he ends up falling more than skating. Billy attempts to help him a few times, but Steve insists that Billy go have fun and not wait around for him. Billy skates around the rink on his own for a lot of the time, but he soon finds his hand grabbed by Max. 

She stays silent for one rotation and then brings up something that has been gnawing at her. “You didn’t correct him.”

Billy looks down at her and feigns ignorance, but he has been wondering if she’ll bring the subject up. “What are you talking about?” 

She shrugs. “Earlier, when Steve called you my brother. You didn’t correct him.

“Don’t let it go to your head.” He doesn’t say anything more on the subject, but he also keeps his hand in hers. After a couple more rotations, he decides to ask something of her that’s been bugging him, too. “So… what did you mean earlier? When you were talking about what happened when we left last night. You said it… got weird.” 

She bites her lower lip and nods. “Yeah, I mean… Dustin said that everyone was freaked out and Hopper started laughing and that upset Joyce because she thought that Steve was upset.”

“Was he? Upset?”

“I’m not really sure. I guess he kind of just stood there while everyone was talking about it and then he walked away, outside or to the bathroom or something. I… I heard Mike say something about Nancy not being able to like… calm him down. And Will keeps saying that Steve is hurt. Again, I have no clue what that's about and Will is kind of odd. I’m not really sure if any of that is right, though, because Steve’s not acting like he’s upset or hurt now.”

Billy looks over at Steve again as the other boy struggles to stay on his feet. “No, he’s not, is he?” As he watches, Steve’s feet come out from under him and he lands hard. Billy winces as he sees Steve’s head smack into the ice and practically bounce. He lets go of Max’s hand and races over to Steve’s side. 

Billy feels his panic well up when he realizes Steve is unconscious. Billy doesn’t see any blood, but he’s concerned about how hard Steve fell. He’s also not sure why he rushed over or why he even cares. But he reminds himself that he embarrassed Steve last night and he doesn’t like owing anyone a debt so he decides that keeping him alive clears him from spending any extra time with any of these people. He motions to the boys, who are apparently engrossed in introducing El to hot chocolate near the opening in the rink. As soon as they look his way, he yells. “Get someone!” Half of them run off and half of them ignore him and come to see what the fuss is about. 

He pats Steve’s cheek lightly and hears the boys making way more noise than they need to at the moment. Max slides over next to him and holds Steve’s hand. “Oh no… not again.”

Billy glances over at her. “Again?”

She frowns. “When you kicked the crap out of him…. He wasn’t so good for awhile. He took a lot of hits to the head and he’s supposed to be really careful.”

Billy feels the guilt creep up on him, but rolls his eyes as something hits him. “So he goes ice skating?”

Max shrugs. “I… I may have told him that you like skating. I mean… I remembered hearing Neil and my mom talking about how you used to go skating with… with your mom a lot.” She doesn’t mention that the conversation she heard was one where Neil was giving Susan evidence that Billy was a “fairy.” 

She looks ashamed for her part in the accident and Billy looks skyward to silently ask for strength in dealing with guilt ridden kids. “It’s not your fault. He’s a big boy. He makes his own decisions.” He backs off as a woman and two men come over. The woman, a doctor who is there with her kids; and the two men, both firefighters there for some charity thing; look Steve over. In a minute or two, Steve wakes up to the doctor leaning over him and checking his eyes with a penlight she pulled out of her inside pocket a moment before. Billy is impressed with how prepared she is, but then decides that any doctor coming to an ice rink would have to be ready to deal with some sort of crisis when teenagers looking to impress are around. 

Billy is shocked when Steve reacts violently to waking up. He jerks so hard that he almost slams his head against the ice again, but one of the firefighters has his hand under Steve to prevent that and was providing cushion. When Steve shoves the woman away from him, Dustin and Lucas manage to catch her before she falls on her butt and the firefighters both start yelling orders at Steve, which only serves to make Steve continue to react. Will and Mike and El stand back and observe. 

Billy notices the others coming closer and quickly gets into Steve’s line of sight. “Hey…. Come on, you’re gonna scare these brats and I’m not taking care of them.” He speaks softly, but with as much firmness as he can. The effect is quick as Steve focuses on Max standing behind Billy and then looks back at the other boy. 

“I’m… I’m okay.” He tries to sit up, but Billy pushes him back.

“No way. Not until the doctor says it’s okay.” If Billy is weirded out by the distant look in Steve’s eyes and the easy compliance, he doesn’t let it show. 

The woman doesn’t seem to be fazed by Steve’s reaction to her and nods. “I would prefer he get checked out for a concussion, but if he has someone with him tonight to wake him up every couple of hours, he can probably check in with his regular doctor tomorrow. But if he starts vomiting or his vision changes, he has to go to the hospital immediately.”

Max nods. “He won’t be alone. And we’ll make sure he’s in his own bed tonight so he’s comfortable.”

Billy finally helps Steve up slowly and guides him over to the edge of the rink, giving a quick word of thanks to the firefighters and the doctor. He gets Steve over to one of the benches and then starts taking off his skates for him. “Okay, these are yours, right?”

Steve nods, but doesn’t do much else. He not only seems dazed, but he’s shut down, too. The kids are crowded around and Billy can practically see Steve drawing himself into a smaller target. He knows what that’s like and he has no clue why Steve is doing it, but he knows what isn’t helpful. He looks at the kids. “Hey, he’s okay for now. You shitheads go enjoy skating after you call your parents or a parent to pick you up. Steve said he had his car here so… I’ll figure something out.”

Billy unlaces his own skates once he has Steve’s shoes on him and carefully wrap them up. He squats down in front of Steve who still has a look on his face as if he’s not really there. “Hey princess, come on. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” He barely manages to stop himself from tucking a stray strand of hair behind Steve’s ear the first time and it’s a lost cause the second time he gets the urge. At the gentle touch, Steve’s eyes move to Billy’s and he slowly seems to come to the present. “You with me, Steve?”

Steve nods. “Yeah… yeah, I’m with you. Sorry… I guess I hit my head pretty hard, huh?”

Billy recognizes a shitty excuse when he hears one, but he doesn’t think Steve needs confronted right now and he’s not really sure it’s any of his business why Steve freaked out anyway. “Look, your car is here at the rink, right? That’s what you mentioned earlier.”

Steve nods. “Yeah, but I was thinking I could walk you back to your place so you could get your car and help me drop the kids off.”

“Sorry, princess. You’re not driving for awhile. I’ll work it out.”

Max comes running over then. “Okay, parents are all on their way. And Nancy is coming and bringing Jonathan so we won’t have to leave Steve’s car or yours.”

Billy smiles softly at her. “Good thinking, kid.”

Max beams at the praise. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, now go have some fun.” He watches her head off and then looks back at Steve. “You want to see if you can keep down some water?”

Steve shrugs and Billy takes that as a yes and goes off to get a styrofoam cup full of water and another one full of hot chocolate. He hands the water to Steve and sips his own hot chocolate. “Drink up.”  
Billy watches Steve slowly sip the water and pretty soon he sees Hopper, Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan walking toward them. He moves away as Joyce comes over and starts checking Steve over. Billy barely notices the tension in Steve’s posture, but is distracted when Jonathan yanks him around by the arm. “Whoa, watch it.”

Jonathan looks pissed, but it’s Nancy who gets in his face. “Haven’t you done enough? And now you hurt him again?”

“I didn’t fucking touch him!”

Jonathan huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, right. I was there last night, remember? And you nearly killed him in my home not all that long ago.”

Hopper gets between the two and Billy. “Hey… Byers, you did the same thing just last year now everyone shut up for a moment. Billy, what happened?”

Billy glares at Nancy and Jonathan a second more before turning to Hopper. “He’s not a good skater. I was skating with Max and I looked back at Steve in time to see him lose his balance. He was falling all day, but this time he went backward hard and smacked his head. He was out for a few minutes and there was a doctor and firefighters here to help him. The doc said he can rest at home if someone stays with him and then he checks in with his own doctor tomorrow. But if he gets worse, he has to go to the hospital.”

Hopper sighs. “Steve… dear Lord, kid.” He considers for a moment. “Joyce, why don’t you take Dustin and Will and head to Steve’s house. Then Jonathan can drive Steve’s car to his place and catch a ride back home with you. Nancy, you can take your brother and Lucas. I’ll take Steve, Billy, Max and El with me back to the Hargrove house so Billy can get his car and then take Steve to his house. Then I’ll head to my place. I promised the girls a sleepover.” He looks over at Billy. “Steve has a walkie in his house and you can reach me on that. I can give you directions to my house if you want to come over with me and Max, but… I have a feeling that nobody is home at Steve’s place. If that’s the case, someone will have to stay with him.”

“I’m not a babysitter.”

“I ain’t asking you to babysit him. I’m asking you to be a friend to him right now.”

Nancy scowls. “I think he’d be in better hands with…. Well, never mind.” She frowns. “Maybe I should stay with him.”

Billy snorts at that. “Seriously? You dump him and humiliate him and you think he wants to be with _you_?”

“Oh and I suppose he wants to be with you because you decided to put your disgusting mouth on his last night for who knows what reason!”

Joyce stands up. “Enough! We’ll do what Hopper suggested.” She waves the kids over and tells them to get their things together. “Jonathan. Go. I’ll see you in a few minutes once the kids are in the car and ready to go. Nancy, you’re more than welcome to just come to our place and the kids can hang out for awhile.” She smirks at Hopper. “You sure you can handle two girls?”

Hopper rubs the back of his neck. “Not really, but I’ll manage.”

Joyce grins. “Yeah, you will. Call me if you need anything.” She pats Steve’s cheek gently. “You, too.” She heads off to round up the kids. 

Once Billy and Steve are dropped off and Hopper stands guard while Billy gets his car, the blonde boy feels like he can finally relax. Billy is grateful to be behind the wheel of his Camaro, but the quiet boy next to him makes everything feel a little awkward. He clears his throat finally. “She almost got to the Olympic trials.”

Steve blinks a few times and glances over. “What?”

“My mom. She grew up ice skating and nearly made it all the way, but… she was injured. Nothing major, but she decided she didn’t want to risk a permanent injury and she walked away from that life. But… she turned me onto it. She used to say that being on the ice as a kid was the closest thing to real freedom that she ever felt. I’d… I’d forgotten that until now because I never really needed freedom from her, but… today, I felt it. I wouldn’t have gotten that connection with her if you hadn’t pushed this day onto me. I guess.. I’m trying to say thank you. For today.”

Steve smiles for the first time since he was injured. “So… you going skating with me again?”

Billy laughs, happy that Steve from this morning seems to be back. “Not unless we fit you with a helmet first. But then again, that won’t happen since you would never dare to mess up your hair.”

Steve leans back in the seat. “You think you know me so well.” The words are soft, but there’s no sadness in his tone, only an observation. 

Billy considers it for a bit. “I guess I do. I’m not really sure why I do and that scares me.”

Steve looks over at Billy again. “I scare you?”

“No, just… I know why I do the things I do, even if nobody else does. But you… I feel like I shouldn’t understand you because understanding you means we have more in common than I thought and I guess… I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even you.” He mentally kicks himself as he sees Steve starting to shut down again. He abruptly changes the subject. “You got any good movies at your place?”

Steve nods. “Sure. One or two. I’m not… there’s nobody home so… maybe we should go to Hopper’s place.” 

“Nope. Max promised that doctor that you’d be in your own bed. It’s cool, man. I’ll just crash at your place and make sure you don’t die or some shit.” 

Steve looks suitably impressed and Billy feels the tension fade again. “So… Billy Hargrove… my hero. You’re not going to attack me and kiss me senseless again, are you?”

Billy smiles widely and licks his teeth slowly as he thinks about the question. He looks over at Steve and winks. “No promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to post part 3. I already have some ideas and that one might get very angsty, but I promise to always throw fluff in when I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there are some issues of abuse in the future to be dealt with by both our boys. Warnings will be appropriate for those stories so please mind the changes in tags throughout the series. Also, there will be things in the fic, like Max whispering to Steve, that will be addressed later in the series. So no, it's not something that was missed.


End file.
